“I spent a lot of time really just trying to understand myself,” he shared of getting toned and gaining self-confidence in recent months. “Like, if I want a good relationship, am I being the type of guy that’s going to get that in return? Am I putting out the kind of vibes that I want to attract back to me? A lot of that came from fitness, and it just kind of snowballed into a big shift in my entire outlook on everything.”

So, what does that mean for his dating life? Manzo, one of Bravo’s most beloved bachelors, is still single — but when the right person comes along, he says he’ll be ready to settle down.

“I think it’s okay for me at my age to just kind of be picky,” he said. “We live in a really, really tough time for dating in general. We’re in app culture — it’s next, next, next, next, next.”

“We all have this sense of entitlement when it comes down to who we’re dating,” he continued. “The truth of matter is, no one’s perfect and we’re in a society that makes us feel like we have to be. I’m totally fine with embracing the fact that coming up to my 30th birthday, I felt very much like a work in progress — I’m totally cool with that.”

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Manzo, 30, says he wants to build a life “with someone — I don’t need it to be done already.”

The reality star insists he’s not on any dating apps and mostly meets women through mutual friends, though “believe it or not,” he added with a laugh, “it has gone in the [Instagram] DMs a couple of times.”

“I just kind of go out — if something happens, it happens,” he explained. “I’m just going with the flow at this point.”

So what exactly is he looking for in a woman?

“For me, it’s really a lot about the energy,” he said. “I feel like when you’re in a relationship where you feed off of each other and make each other better, that’s really the situation that I want.”

And while he admits he has a type — “brunette, the typical Italian girl, Apollonia from The Godfather-type of thing” — his most important criteria is being able to see eye-to-eye on major things, like raising a family.

“For me, the most important decision that I’m going to make at the end of the day is, Who is going to be the mother to my kids?” he said. “If you think of it like that, it does kind of make you want to take a step back and just take your time with it.”

Ultimately, Manzo revealed that if he could have one wish, it would be to find someone he’s really “excited about.”

“I’m so excited to see where [my sister] Lauren‘s life is going. She’s buying a house and having a kid and there are so many really great things that come with all of that that I would love to experience,” he admitted. “But the thing is, I don’t look at it as an accessory to my life. I want the real thing. So I’m patient with it.”

“I definitely am looking to settle down, but I’m not going to do it just to do it,” he added. “I want to do it right, I want to do it once.”

Manzo’d with Children airs with back-to-back episodes this Sunday at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on Bravo.